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After more than three hours of deliberations Thursday afternoon, a jury found suspended Wilkes-Barre tower Leo Glodzik III guilty of theft.

The jury found Glodzik not guilty on a charge of theft from a motor vehicle.

Earlier, jurors had told Judge Lesa Gelb they were deadlocked.

“It’s my understanding that you are deadlocked?” Gelb asked around 3:20 p.m., after jurors delivered a note to her.

“Yes,” the jury foreman said.

Gelb told jurors they needed to continue to try to come to an unanimous verdict and sent them back to deliberate more.

Jurors had also broken from deliberations to ask a question.

“Does the fact the defendant was on his own property and liable for the property still constitute theft?" the jury foreman asked Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb.

Gelb reread the definition of theft and theft from a motor vehicle, and sent jurors back to deliberate.

The owner of LAG Towing, Glodzik was Wilkes-Barre's exclusive towing contractor from April 2005 until he was suspended on May 31, 2013, after his arrest on theft charges.

Prosecutors claim Glodzik pocketed $2,100 in bait money from a car during an FBI sting operation in January 2013.

A Luzerne County jury has begun deliberating the fate of towing contractor Leo Glodzik III.

Closing arguments were held Thursday morning in Glodzik’s theft case and jurors were given the case shortly after noon.

To be acquitted of theft charges, Glodzik needs jurors to believe honorable members of law enforcement “engaged in the most elaborate and corrupt ruse in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce told jurors.

When he took the stand Wednesday, Glodzik contradicted what he said on secret recordings that incriminate him, Sanguedolce said.

“He’s asking you to believe what he says over the recordings,” Sanguedolce said.

The owner of LAG Towing, Glodzik was Wilkes-Barre's exclusive towing contractor from April 2005 until he was suspended on May 31, 2013, after his arrest. Prosecutors claim Glodzik pocketed $2,100 in bait money from a car during an FBI sting operation in January 2013.

During his testimony on Thursday, Glodzik said the only witness called by the prosecution, retired state Trooper Daniel Mimnaugh, is a “liar.”

Mimnaugh, who retired several months after Glodzik was charged, testified he went undercover and posed as a dirty cop to snare Glodzik after Glodzik overbilled his father-in-law during a December 2012 tow. Glodzik’s attorney, Joseph Sklarosky Sr., said Mimnaugh had a conflict of interest and held a personal vendetta against Glodzik.

“That’s what this is all about — something personal,” Sklarosky said. “He’s a former state policeman. He’s also a man and human being. He has biases and prejudices like the rest of us.”

Glodzik's attorneys claim federal and state authorities filed the charges in retribution because he didn't have the incriminating evidence they thought he had against Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton, Wilkes-Barre police officers and other city officials.

Sklarosky repeatedly referred to FBI Special Agent Joseph Noone during his closing.

Mimnaugh worked closely with Noone in the Glodzik investigation, and Mimnaugh often said Noone held the answers to a lot of questions Sklarosky had. Noone, who is currently involved in a federal investigation in Wilkes-Barre City, was not called to testify at Glodzik’s trial.

“How many times did he say, you’ll have to ask Mr. Noone that? Well, where was Mr. Noone? Mr. Noone was like a devil around holy water. He didn’t want to be anywhere near here. He didn’t want any part of it,” Sklarosky said.

“I guess we could have called Agent Noone to testify about the investigation he’s doing in WIlkes-Barre. But this case isn’t about the investigation in Wilkes-Barre, it’s about a theft."

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